“The problem carbon is that everyone thinks we have an energy problem, we don't. We have plenty of energy. We have a carbon problem. Carbon is a material, so we have a material problem, not an energy problem.” ThinkingProblemEnergyMaterialsPlentyCarbon Author:William McDonough
“We have carbon in the atmosphere. That is a material in the wrong place problem. It's just like what I said about the lead. Lead in the biosphere is not good. Carbon in the atmosphere (over natural levels) is a problem.” SaidProblemNaturalLevelsMaterialsAtmosphereCarbonLead InBiosphere Author:William McDonough
“If you don't like carbon, if you want to be zero carbon, then you might as well shoot yourself, dry up and blow away because you are carbon.” IfsWantWellsMightBlowDryZeroCarbonDry Up Author:William McDonough
“Carbon in your body - that's good thing. In a tree, it's good. In the atmosphere, it's a bad. Nature wants to sequester carbon in biota. And when we burn it, we release it. It's the wrong system.” WantBodyTreeGood ThingsYour BodyReleaseAtmosphereCarbon Author:William McDonough
“The problem I have with carbon as a bad thing issue, is that people go out and say they want to be zero carbon. You see it everywhere.” PeopleWantProblemIssuesBad ThingsZeroCarbon Author:William McDonough
“All these corporate reports say they want zero carbon. Well that is ridiculous, because you are not telling us what you are, you are telling us what you are not.” WantWellsRidiculousCorporateReportsZeroCarbon Author:William McDonough
“Imagine walking into a grocery there is a jar sitting there with a lid on it saying it's not carbon. That is ridiculous. It's an empty jar.” ImagineWalkingSittingEmptyRidiculousCarbonGroceriesJars Author:William McDonough
“We prefer to talk about 100% renewable instead of zero carbon. When you say zero carbon, you are not positively defined.” DefinedZeroCarbonPositively Author:William McDonough
“And to use something as elegant as a tree? Imagine this design assignment: Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, makes complex sugars and foods, changes colors with the seasons, and self-replicates. and then why don't we knock that down and write on it?” WritingSelfUseWaterNatureImagineTreeDesignFoodColorSeasonsDown AndComplexesSugarCarbonElegantOxygenKnockingFixingAssignmentsReplicateNitrogenDistillation Author:William McDonough
